SERP search engine results page

SERP is short for search engine results page, the Web page that a search engine returns with the results of its search.

A search engine results page, or SERP, is the listing of web pages returned by a search engine in response to a keyword query. The results normally include a list of web pages with titles, a link to the page, and a short description showing where the keywords have matched content within the page. A SERP may refer to a single page of links returned, or to the set of all links returned for a search query.

Query caching
Different types of results
Advertising (Sponsored Listings)

Query caching

Some search engines cache SERPs for frequent searches and display the cached SERP instead of a live SERP to increase the performance of the search engine. The search engine updates the SERPs periodically to account for new pages, and possibly to modify the rankings of pages in the SERP.

SERP refreshing can take several days or weeks which can occasionally cause results to be inaccurate or out of date, and new sites and pages to be completely absent.

Different types of results

SERPs of major search engines like Google and Yahoo! may include different types of listings:

contextual search listings
algorithmic search listings
organic search listings
sponsored listings
images listings
maps listings
definitions listings
suggested search refinements

The major search engines also offer different types of search, such as image, news, and blog search. The SERPs for these specialized searches offer specific types of results.

Advertising (Sponsored Listings)

SERPs usually contain advertisements. This is how commercial search engines fund their operations. Common examples of these advertisements are displayed on the right hand side of the page (e.g. Google Adwords) as small classified style ads or directly above the main organic search results on the left (e.g., Yahoo! Sponsored Search).

We used Google's layout as an example:

SERP search engine results page

1. Google One Box: maps, local results, pictures and definitons.

2. Organic results.

3. Sponsored links, Google Adwords.